I almost put this in the "News" section because it was in SanSpo, but surely it's just one of those rumours that make the rounds when there's no actual baseball to report about.

Anyway, SanSpo are reporting that Kiyohara, recently declared surplus to Yomiuri's requirements, met with Orix and they expressed their interest in acquiring him, but that Kiyohara maintained his no-comment stance. The article goes on to say that Kiyohara fervently hopes to join Hanshin, quoting a source close to Kiyohara (unnnamed, of course) that Kiyohara said he was waiting for Hanshin to make him an offer.

Conversely, SanSpo reports that Hanshin is not interested. Hanshin player acquisitions chief Masahiro Kuroda is quoted as saying the club is not even considering personnel matters until after the Nippon Series, while on October 1 (the date Kiyohara became a free agent), Hanshin manager Akinobu Okada said he was not considering acquiring the Kishiwada native. On the same day, Hanshin club president Toshihiro Makita stated they had no interest in Kiyohara.

Meanwhile, a separate SanSpo article speculates that a healthy Kiyohara could start at first for Hanshin, with Andy Sheets moving to second.

Your guess is as good as mine right now. Outgoing manager Akira Ohgi, now a special adivsor, said getting Kiyohara was a top priority, but I haven't heard much on Kiyohara from Orix since that announcement.

Hanshin had two problem positions last year - second base and right field. Current thinking is that the right field spot is to be filled by Lin Wei-Tsu who made an impressive showing late in the season with Hiyama moving to the pinch hitting role (no news on Spencer).

If he performs well in the camps, Kataoka will be restored to third and Imaoka moved back to second as Imaoka was not an unqualified success in the former position.

Kiyohara does not figure in the Tigers' plans at all, especially with Sheets proving to be such a success at first.

Orix will be the most improved team in the league. They have added Kiyohara (1B-DH), Nakamura (3B-DH), Davey (P), Grabowski (LF-RF-3B-1B-DH-C), Hirano (rookie P), and maybe Serafini (P). Last year Orix had a shortage of power, but still were the most improved team in the league. This year Kiyohara, Nakamura, Grabowski, Brumbaugh, Kitagawa, and Tani all could hit 20 home runs or more.

Ha ha, Orix are terrible. From the manager and coaches to the gajin to the Japanese players. They all are horrible. If it wasn't for Rakuten they would be in last place. This is a team that is a combination of two teams and they still can't win. Pathetic!

This team is terrible. Manager Nakamura is an idiot! Why he contines to use minor league pitchers who never get the job done is beyond me. Why he pulls good starting pitchers who are pitching well is also moronic.

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